“We also have night guards. I don’t think this fire disaster was from power supply and our machines,’’ he said.

A victim, Mr Abdul-Azeez Dauda, said that he had lost everything in the market to the inferno, adding that it would affect his livelihood and that of his family.

“How do I survive? How do I pay the school fees of my children? How do we eat at home now? Honestly, I don’t know what to do. I need assistance,’’ he said.

Another victim, who craved anonymity, said he had been in the market for over 25 years, adding that there had never been a record of fire disaster at that section of the plank market.

“This is strange. At about 2 a.m., someone called me that the market was on fire and by the time I got here, the entire place had been razed. I am confused,’’ he said.

Mr Moshood Adewuyi, the director of Oyo State Fire Service, told newsmen at the scene of the fire incident that the fire brigade was swiftly mobilised to the scene immediately a distress call was made to his office.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Adekunle Ajisebutu, told newsmen that Mr Abiodun Odude, the State Commissioner of Police, had visited the scene to assess the level of damage.

He said the police boss assured traders of security and adequate investigation to ascertain the cause of the inferno.

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